The Nicene Church and the State: Part I – The Great Persecution

Constantine would reshape the Church for the rest of time after he took absolute control of Rome in AD 324. He would go on to not only tolerate Christianity, but as a convert essentially adopt it as the “unofficial” State religion. We must ask what Constantine did for the Church and was it for its betterment? Was Constantine truly the human-savior, and was this newly adopted church-state relationship setting Christians on the path of righteousness? The Church took an about-face from its prior anti-state and apolitical stance. The political intrigue and inevitable state enforcement of doctrine that would ensue was the downfall of the Church, some scholars claim. We will investigate this claim, a claim that I share personally. First, in order to truly understand this new relationship and gain an appreciation for how and why the Church was clamoring to venerate Constantine as their earthly authority, we must plunge into the events prior to Constantine’s succession, and acknowledge the widespread sufferings of the Church and her Bishops, some of which would live through horrific torments, some showing up to Nicaea in AD 325 with missing limbs and various scars from the tortures they endured. They lived to see this new emperor not only end the suffering, but show the Christian church favor in just a few decades.

Diocletian was Augustus (emperor) of the East and co-emperor with Maximian in the West, with Galerius as Caesar (subordinate emperor) under him and Constantius under Maximian, this was called the Tetrarchy, a form of government Diocletian established in AD 293. In the year 299 Galerius had just won a great victory with the Persians, sacking their capital city Ctesiphon, while Diocletian sat at the Eastern border waiting for the news. Diocletian was hesitant to go fight the Persians himself, he was fearful that his fate would be the same as that of Valerian whom was captured and killed by the Persians in AD 260. Galerius would return to gain great favor with the people, and especially Diocletian whom most likely assumed he would lose and share a grave with the aforementioned emperor, Valerian. This favor, according to Lactantius, put Diocletian in a state of fear shortly after. He was fearful that the people would praise Galerius rather than himself and thus inadvertently undermine his reign as Augustus. According to Lactantius, he even speculated about naming himself the son of Mars, the god of war.

Diocletian was a very devout pagan, insomuch as he was frequently calling his soothsayers to sacrifice to these pagan deities in order to gain divination. These soothsayers would cut out the entrails of a large animal and read them for future insight, inspecting every inch of intestine and vital organ, searching for any blemish or oddity that would grant them the insight needed. On one fateful occasion in Antioch, the same year Galerius returned from his victory, Diocletian had his entire court gathered in the palace to witness a sacrifice of animals to the gods. There were Christians of high title present, brandishing the symbol of the cross on their foreheads. No scholar is sure of why they acted this way, considering the fact that animal sacrifices were a very common occurrence with the emperors and they had most likely been present to those events prior, we can only speculate. What we do know, is that this act of piety would usher in the tenth and final persecution against the Church.

“Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.” Revelation 2:10

These sacrifices were coming to a failure and Diocletian was enraged, ordering more and more sacrifices. These still failed and he demanded to know why the sacrifices were being denied the fortune he craved. Most likely from a place of fear, since emperors are known for their short temper, the chief soothsayer named Tages stated that he noticed the sign of the cross on the foreheads of some of the members present, that the Christian’s must have been expelling the daimons, preventing them from granting the soothsayers knowledge from the sacrifices. Immediately, Diocletian ordered the entire court sacrifice to the gods and then everyone within the palace was ordered to do the same. All who refused would be stripped of their titles and cast out from the court. Quickly after, Diocletian sent letters to all his military officers demanding that they order their troops to sacrifice as well. Those that didn’t also lost their titles and were relieved of service.

The event quickly ended and that following winter Diocletian went to Bithynia in northern Asia, at which point he met up with Galerius. At this time, Diocletian would’ve probably still felt a sense of resentment and envy since this was his first time seeing Galerius after his victory that we are aware of. Galerius heard of the events in Antioch and was riled with excitement. Lactantius describes to us the fact that Galerius was raised to despise the Christians by his mother, known to sacrifice to the gods daily. Lactantius tells us additionally, that Galerius had Christian family that refused to partake in the sacrifices and eat their meat, which drove his mother to resent them. Thus, Galerius was probably raised with very anti-Christian attitudes. As a result, when Diocletian was recounting these events as he most likely had, Galerius saw this opportunity to convince him to pursue his actions with further persecution. It seems that Diocletian wasn’t quite sold yet on the idea. He sought his advisors and high officers for advice in which Lactantius describes their consent to Galerius’ suggestion. Diocletian wouldn’t be convinced yet, much to the disappointment of Galerius I am sure. This was in the winter of AD 299-300 and the persecution wouldn’t truly ensue for another couple of years.

On the 23rd of February in the year 303, Diocletian and Galerius were staying at the palace in Nicomedia, a flourishing city just 60 miles east of Constantinople in Asia. This was the capital of Eastern Rome and Diocletian’s favored city. Right across from the palace was a church from which the persecution would begin. Soldiers were ordered to storm the church, locate any piece of scripture and burn it, then the Praetorian Guard showed up and ransack the entire place into ruin. Diocletian ordered his first edict be posted in the city the following day, which stated that all churches and Christian scripture be burned, that all Christians holding office with the state lose their titles and estates, that anyone professing Christ or teaching his word be imprisoned, that all Christians were banned from private assembly and finally that any whom wish to seek redress must first sacrifice to the gods in court. The last part of the edict mentioned allowed citizens to aggress against Christians and unless they became apostates, there was no protection to be had from the Roman state. On the very same day the edict was posted, a Christian named Euestius took this document, ripping it down, he shredded it into pieces. He was then arrested and burned alive, having performed this act against the state right in front of the palace Diocletian and Galerius were staying at. Some Christians had denied their faith and sacrificed, but most wouldn’t and they would suffer terribly for their devotion. Anthimus, the Bishop of the Nicomedian church, was found and beheaded as well as many whom had followed him. Then a fire broke out at the palace, for reasons no one is sure, and the Christians were blamed. Lactantius speculates that Galerius ordered the fire himself in order to increase Diocletian’s fervor against the Christians. This wasn’t the first time a fire was blamed on the Christians, instigating the first persecution under Nero almost 250 years prior.

More edicts would follow the same year, only months later and would extend into Western Rome under the rule of Maximian and Constantius. The second edict declared that all Christian leadership be imprisoned. This included Bishops, Deacons, Presbyters, and pastors all of whom had some form of leadership in the Church. They would be tortured until they sacrificed, and thus sit in jail even if they had. This led to mass overpopulation of the prisons and for a time, they even allowed thieves and other violent criminals go free in order to make room for the Christians. This didn’t last long though, Diocletian knew he couldn’t sustain this policy. He then posted a third edict, which declared that Christians could be set free if they sacrificed to the gods, and those that failed would be additionally tortured and killed. Eusebius describes the coming months as seeing the persecution throughout Rome in every province, with exception of Spain, Gaul and Britian. In AD 304 he declared his fourth and final edict and this was the most brutal and terrifying for the whole of the Church. All Christians were demanded to sacrifice to idols and fall in worship of them, or be tortured and/or killed. This in conjunction with the ban on private assembly would render it nearly impossible for Christians to worship. The scenes Eusebius describes in the following years were terrifying and revealed the Roman states absolutely brutal nature:

“The outrageous agonies endured by the martyrs in the Theban area, however, defeat all description. Their whole bodies were torn to shreds with claw-like potsherds (broken ceramic) until they expired. Women were tied by one foot and swung high in the air, head downward, by machines, their bodies totally naked without a stitch of clothing… Others died fastened to trees: they bent down their strongest branches by machines, fastened one of the martyrs legs to each, and then let the branches fly back to their natural position, instantly tearing apart the limbs of their victims.” (Eusebius Church History 8.9)

“Sometimes they were killed with an axe, as was the case in Arabia, or had their legs broken, as those in Cappadocia. At other times they hung upside down over a slow fire, so that smoke rising from the burning wood suffocated them, as in Mesopotamia… Others endured shameful, pitiful, unmentionable suffering in their private parts and intestines, which the noble law-abiding judges eagerly invented, trying to outdo one-another in devising new tortures, as if contending for prize… Tired of killing and sated with blood, they turned to what was deemed mercy and humanity in no longer harming us – or so they though… Instead, orders were now issued that their eyes be gouged out and one of their legs maimed – “humanity,” in their opinion, and “the lightest of punishments.” As a result of such philanthropy on the part of Godless men, it is impossible to report that vast number of people who first had their right eye sliced out with a sword and cauterized with fire and the left root rendered useless by branding irons applied to the joints.” (Eusebius Church History 8.12)

Eusebius goes into much greater detail in his own text, but I simply highlighted some of the events from various areas of the empire.

Diocletian wouldn’t remain in power for long, in AD 305 he abdicated his title of Augustus to Galerius so he could retire, and had convinced Maximian to do the same and declare Constantius as Augustus in his place (this is the first time in history an emperor has willingly stepped down from his throne). Severus and Maximinus were then declared as Caesars under the new emperors of Rome. Constantius had been in charge of Spain, Gaul and Britian prior and he was a friend to the Christians. He sought no violence against them, though he did succumb at face-value and destroyed property including churches and scripture. He took Diocletian and Galerius’ persecution no further for the entirety of the four edict’s survival. Constantius sought no harm to the Christians, in fact Constantine (his son) elected Lactantius as his tutor years prior. Lactantius being the Christian scholar that gave us one of the few primary sources for the great persecution we have, he was stripped of his title as a result of Diocletian’s edicts and I can only guess this bothered Constantine deeply and thus, his father as well.

The persecutions did not stop though, they carried on under Galerius and Constantius (though still only in half of Western Rome). In July of 306 Constantius dies and Constantine is named his successor, at this point he ends the persecution within his realm, though in the same year Maxentius is declared Princep (another emperor title) of Rome by the Praetorian Guard and this begins the next civil war that I will describe in the next article. Maxentius ends the persecution as well though in October of 306, so the entire Western side of Rome is at peace with the Church again. Eastern Rome is still under Galerius, and his thirst for exterminating the Church has gone unquenched. That is until on his deathbed in April of 311, he declares that all persecution to be ended, in turn pleading with the Christians to pray for his health. Their prayers do not succeed and he dies soon after. Maximinus takes over as Augustus in his place and reinstitutes the four edicts only months after Galerius’ death, and he pursues the Christians further. He declares that all Christians sacrifice to the gods or be condemned to severe mutilations. He even executes the Christian scholar Lucian after nine years of torture in prison, after hearing his apology of Christianity. These persecutions carry on until 313, even after Constantine signs the Edict of Milan which grants Christianity full toleration in the West. Maximinus ends the persecution and soon after kills himself in Tarsus. This is where the persecution ends and Constantine’s reign picks up.

These events will set the stage for Constantine’s veneration and full support from the Church. This was the final and greatest persecution Christians had ever seen in their 300 hundred years of existence in Rome. We must imagine the psychological effect this decade of terror had on the Church, and the effect Constantine had when he converted and signed his edict. The Church was more than willing to embrace their human-savior with open arms and extinguish all enmity they hitherto had toward the State. In the mind of these Bishops, it may have been the state that tried to crush them, but it was the state that saved them. They wouldn’t fall short in taking full advantage of their newfound political favor in Rome, either.

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Majoring in Biblical Studies at Ohio Christian University. Non-denominational Christian and history enthusiast, with a specific interest in Pre-Nicene Christianity. In my spare time my I am a powerlifter and my fiance and I train together in the gym, I also study 19th century philosophy informally. My fiance and I have two dogs and share an apartment in Cincinnati, OH.

2 comments

Thanks for this overview of one of the most difficult times in history.

However, while Nicene Christianity was definitely corrupted to some degree by statism, I think Nicene Christianity was very important for the flourishing of the church and of sound doctrine. It was here that the doctrine of the Trinity was solidified, where the biblical canon was at least arranged in some workable way, and Western Christianity was developed (for good and for ill, but mostly good).

It could also be argued validly that Constantine didn’t necessarily establish Christianity as a state religion. Here’s an interesting link (from a Catholic source) about Constantine.

Thanks Anand. I plan to tackle this issue remaining unbiased as possible in the next article. I will compare and contrast the ethics of the pre-Nicene church with the church after Nicaea. You are right though, I very much doubt any serious thinker would claim that the Nicene church was bad or good in it’s entirety, there’s a very grey area there. As for Constantine, yes he didn’t establish it as the state religion officially, that was Theodosius in the late 4th century. Constantine I would consider made it the “unofficial” state religion, after showing such great favor towards it.

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